The Business of Government Shouldn’t be Business

The Business of Government Shouldn’t be Business

With the unemployment rate in the United States lingering just below 10 percent and elections approaching rapidly, job creation has become Washington’s top priority. Arguing that small businesses create the most jobs, lawmakers are instituting several programs that focus on helping small businesses. The effectiveness of these policies, though, is dubious. If government wants to help the economy, which in turn would create jobs, it needs to get out of the business of helping business.

Related

Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a nationally syndicated columnist. Her primary research interests include the U.S. economy, the federal budget, homeland security, taxation, tax competition, and financial privacy. Her popular weekly charts, published by the Mercatus Center, address economic issues ranging from lessons on creating sustainable economic growth to the implications of government tax and fiscal policies. She has testified numerous times in front of Congress on the effects of fiscal stimulus, debt and deficits, and regulation on the economy.